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Monday, 8 April 2013

As a brand, OPI seems to me like it has a good sense of humour: the colour names are usually amusing, the colour range is extensive and pushes the limit and stars are lining up to collaborate and create their own lines. It is a fun brand. So, it was perfectly fitting that artist Jen D'Arcy would choose OPI as her paint medium to do a portrait of comedian Julia Morris. Jen D'Arcy consumed over 1071 bottles of OPI (16 litres of
nail lacquer), painting directly from individual OPI bottles, to complete the
portrait. OPI offers over 300 different shades, so there was never a concern in
terms of providing the right colour palettes.

Commenting on behalf of OPI, Bill McKendrick Managing
Director of OPI Australia said “We were thrilled to be part of such as quirky,
creative and innovative project. OPI is all about colour, being creative and
innovative, so this project spoke volumes in terms of what OPI offers as a
brand.”

Obviously, as a comedian, Julia Morris has a wonderful sense of humour. “I am a massive fan of Jen D’Arcy's. work, so when she approached me
with her genius idea of using nail lacquer to paint my portrait, it really
appealed to my sense of humour. In fact, as young people would say; it made me
LOL!"

When I head about the idea of this portrait I imagined it to be quite small, but it is massive - larger than life size. No wonder it took over
1071 bottles of OPI (16 litres of nail lacquer) to complete.

If you have ever wondered why OPI needed so many different shades of red, you now have your answer!

It is phenomenal to think that Jen D'Arcy painted the entire artwork directly from the bottle using the OPI brushes. I guess, if she made a mistake then a dab of nail polish remover would fix it right up!

The finished product

FYI: The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most
prestigious art prizes. It’s awarded to the best portrait painting, preferentially
of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics. The
Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921. In establishing the prize, JF
Archibald’s aim was to foster portraiture as well as support artists and
perpetuate the memory of great Australians. Over the years some of Australia’s
most prominent artists have entered and the subjects have been equally
celebrated in their fields. The Archibald Prize winner will be announced: 22
March 2013, whilst the People’s Choice winner will be announced on 16th May
2013. The Archibald Prize 2013 exhibition will be shown from 23rd March until
2nd June 2013.